Sure, why not. I mean, assuming you are in China, why go with one of the most poorly organized foreign language education television programs in Asia when you can have actual, practical, well organized (by yourself) Chinese lessons from actual Chinese, minus the annoying, snarky, smugly self satisfied Canadian geek?

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What shade of lipstick and which pig?

Um, purple, and Porky?

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"Most young people were getting jobs in big companies, becoming company men. I wanted to be an individual." Haruki Murakami

When I was in China, my students would occasionally decide it was time for me to learn some Chinese. For some reason, they tried to focus on extremely useful words that are come up in conversation all the time. Words like "shrubbery".

I think Ms. Palin has followed Michael into the realm of comedy today.

In the VP debates that just wrapped, Ms. Palin pronounced NUCLEAR as "Nuk-u-lur" over 10 times. I stopped counting at ten. She'd have made Homer J. Simpson proud, and I'm sure G. W. Bush felt he could enter his house, justified.

Of course, she also bragged about being the daughter of educators. Someone coached her on how to pronounce the president of Iran's name correctly, but failed to inform her on the pronunciation of nuclear. 6 colleges in 4 years* also didn't help her. :th_b:

Either she has seen the film Fargo one too many times, or her parents were poor teachers, because she had a limited vocabulary that bordered on monosyllabic.

I believe she invented a word, with "bosniak," when referring to Bosnians.

She also posited the notion that Alaska is "the heartland," of America, and how Wasilla goes, so goes the nation.

I guess having a handful of kids, all white, makes you "diverse," because she referred to her family as a "diverse" family. She did it nearly as much as she tossed around the word, "maverick" to "nuk-u-lur" levels of hilarity.

I don't recall if she ever actually answered any of the questions the moderator asked her. It's hard to tell, since she cannot string together coherent thoughts. My mind would wander after she got into really bizarre double-iteration, like, "I never compromised on anything, because we always found a way to come to an agreement on both sides to get something passed," "Future events such as these will affect you in the future," AND, "I'm just so encouraged that we both love Israel, I'm just so encouraged by that."

There was comedy gold in these gems:

"John McCain knows what evil is."

"John McCain Knows How To Win a War" - he was a POW in Vietnam; A WAR WE "LOST".

"John McCain is the only one who has fought for you!"

It was as hilarious as it was disturbing.

* or was it 4 colleges in six years? I forget. Either way: she's a tool. Dean Wormer gave her a "zero point Zero" a few times, I guess.

« Last Edit: October 03, 2008, 07:29:36 PM by Spaghetti »

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"Most young people were getting jobs in big companies, becoming company men. I wanted to be an individual." Haruki Murakami

I have a friend that used to go on & on about how gay men were so bad... seemed he really he hated them.years later, he finally admitted to himself the truth, divorced his wife & moved in with a nice man he used to rant on & on about...

Seems it wasn't a total annihilation though - pollsters have her scoring in the 40% range, so she got some points awarded to her. And when have people ever been too bothered about intelligent comments from their leaders??

Seems it wasn't a total annihilation though - pollsters have her scoring in the 40% range, so she got some points awarded to her. And when have people ever been too bothered about intelligent comments from their leaders??

Lotus, keep in mind that over 50% of America denies the scientific facts behind evolution. Having heard the speech, Palin did not answer a single question levied towards her. Biden did. Palin sounded retarded. Literally retarded. She was on par with G. W. Bush in her levels of stupidity.

To further illustrate the decline of American logic, people are celebrating Palin not making a complete ass of herself and measure that as a GOOD THING. Not points made. Not retorts making sense. Not if she made her candidate look more electable. You know: things that the debate is supposed to be about!

I notcied this especially with the foreign press. Sky News, TV France and the BBC were tossing credibility out the window in their effusive analysis of Palin's ability to actually, mostly, complete sentences.

Nearly all failed to actually mention what she said, beyond the multitudeo f forced, "you betcha," and "mainstream," and, "main street," and other silliness, like saying she was 'middle class." Three million bucks a year to render a 1 million U. S. dolalr net income yearly does not make a person middle class last i checked.

Of course, people need not take my word for it: if anyone has the time to spare and wants a good laugh* then go and watch orlisten to the debate. I'm sure its still online. You may find yourself wondering if it was an hour of outtakes from the movie Fargo.

I think y'all need to go back to your corners, take a deep [breath/hit/slug] of your intoxicant(s) of choice, reflect on the original topic in this thread, and then sit back, relax and enjoy THE Palin's website here:

Then, after the timeout, please start your own threads screeching to your own choirs about that other Palin.

Extra Credit for clicking through to Michael Palin's website... he does mention the new Palin somewhere there. You'll have to find it, though.

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Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad. - B. O'Driscoll. TIC is knowing that, in China, your fruit salad WILL come with cherry tomatoes AND all slathered in mayo. - old34.

Clicked. And later I found myself still reading the China section of his 80 Days book. On the train to Shanghai:

Our latest estimate of arrival is four hours late in Shanghai. Mr Xie can see I want to be left alone, so he slides up to me. 'What are you thinking, Mr Mike?'

Last night I gave him Travellers by Ruth Prawer Jhabwala and Graham Greene's Ways of Escape. He was absolutely delighted and has probably read them already. But I haven't enough stamina for a literary discussion and I mime exhaustion so effectively that he nods understandingly, like a hospital visitor, and settles down to watch me.

Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad. - B. O'Driscoll. TIC is knowing that, in China, your fruit salad WILL come with cherry tomatoes AND all slathered in mayo. - old34.

Yes, the majority of American English speakers I have heard use that strange pronunciation - even though American dictionaries have it correct phonetically. And they also cannot spell/pronounce aluminium correctly either!

I am sure Michael Palin would have noted this somewhere on his travels in the US.